1 injured as blaze consumes St. Clement’s Castle in Portland, East Hampton

1 injured, nuptials party interrupted during weekend fire at St. Clement’s Castle and Marina

Published 2:57 pm, Monday, June 26, 2017

Photo: Courtesy Portland Fire Department

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Portland and East Hampton fire crews were aided by the towns of Colchester, Cromwell, East Haddam, Haddam Neck, Glastonbury, Marlborough, Middletown and the Westfield area of Middletown in fighting the blaze.

Portland and East Hampton fire crews were aided by the towns of Colchester, Cromwell, East Haddam, Haddam Neck, Glastonbury, Marlborough, Middletown and the Westfield area of Middletown in fighting the blaze.

Photo: Courtesy Portland Fire Department

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The St. Clement’s Castle Marina, which spans both Portland and East Hampton, wedding and banquet facility was hit by a fire that quickly raced up the exterior of building, got under the eaves and then swept across the truss roof space, officials said. A portion of the roof — perhaps as much as one-third of it, according to East Hampton Fire Marshal Rich Klotzbier — collapsed. less

The St. Clement’s Castle Marina, which spans both Portland and East Hampton, wedding and banquet facility was hit by a fire that quickly raced up the exterior of building, got under the eaves and then ... more

Photo: Courtesy Portland Fire Department

1 injured as blaze consumes St. Clement’s Castle in Portland, East Hampton

A portion of the roof — perhaps as much as one-third of it, according to East Hampton Fire Marshal Rich Klotzbier — collapsed.

Given that the 90-acre St. Clement’s property encompasses portions of both Portland and East Hampton, fire departments from both towns responded to 911 calls just after 1:15 p.m. They were joined by fire departments from Colchester, Cromwell, East Haddam, Haddam Neck, Glastonbury, Marlborough, Middletown and the Westfield area of Middletown, according to East Hampton Fire Chief Greg Voelker.

No firefighters were injured as they fought to contain both the blaze in the banquet facility and a brush fire that also began behind the facility and raced up a hill toward an adjacent property.

At least initially, guests at a wedding inside the one-story wooden banquet facility “didn’t realize” the facility was on fire, according to Voelker. Instead, Voelker said, a neighbor whose property was being threatened by the wind-whipped brush fire made the first 911 call.

Portland Fire Chief Robert A. Shea the initial call “came in as ‘an outside fire.’” A Portland firefighter who lives nearby was at the castle property “within a minute,” Shea said, and “bumped it up to ‘a working structure fire,’” a designation which sets in motion a larger response from area fire companies.

“As always, our best partners were Middletown,” Shea said.

Deputy Chief Andrew Goff directed Portland’s response, which involved “the guys try(ing) to make a strong interior attack,” Shea said. Working in concert with Middletown firefighters, Portland made “an aggressive attack” on the roof, Shea said. “They tried to beat it down hard,” Shea said. But quickly, “the roof became very unstable, and we ordered everyone out” as portions of the roof began to collapse into the interior of the building, Shea said.

“We made a good attack with limited manpower,” Shea said, paying special thanks to Middletown Battalion Chief Chris Augeri, “who helped us tremendously.”

Meanwhile, East Hampton established “a draft site” on the riverfront, Shea said, which meant “we had a very good supply of water.”

If water was not a problem, heat became one for firefighters, garbed as they were in their heavy turnout gear, Shea said. Firefighters from Cromwell and Westfield were standing by in Portland’s fire house in case of other fire or medical calls. Shea said as the afternoon wore on, he began to shuttle firefighters from Cromwell and Westfield onto the front lines at St. Clement’s.

No firefighters were injured in the incident. However, one person — a civilian — was transported to the hospital as a precaution so he could be evaluated, Voelker said Sunday evening.

As the firefighters were mounting their attack on the fire, St. Clement’s staff members were leading the wedding party out of the facility. Shea said he was sorry their celebration was interrupted, but added, “Thank God nobody got hurt.”

In all, East Hampton firefighters were on scene for three and a half to four hours, putting out hot spots and ensuring the fire didn’t flare up again, Voelker said.

Klotzbier, East Hampton’s fire marshal, is heading the investigation into the cause of the fire. Given the size of the facility and the severity of the damage, Klotzbier said he has called in the state fire marshal to assist in the investigation.